On the Shoulders of Giants
by Uskius
Summary: Stranded high above Konoha as punishment for a night they don't remember, Naruto and Shizune deal with consequences they never expected. The sequel to 24 and A Horde of Elephants.


****AUTHOR'S NOTE**** "...Things did start off slow, like the way a snowball rolls downhill." Well, with a summary like that, what were you expecting? This will probably be bad and/or not what you were expecting, because I am ending things here but don't know how. Not gonna worry about it though, and you shouldn't either- this story will be just as ridiculous as the other two, perhaps even moreso. This one will pick up right were A Magnificent Horde Of Brightly Shining Elephants Grandly Announce Their Majestic Presence left off. For added fun, you are now hearing this in the voice of manwithoutabody- and if you don't know him, then (even better, being sung by) Michael Bolton.

**NARUTO: ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS**

When his eyes opened, Naruto was looking into the wild blue yonder- no clouds in sight. "Wh- where am I...?" Naruto sat up, noticing he was on a navy blue blanket somewhere, high above the ground. There were no trees in sight, no grass, and he was naked. Wait, naked? _Ah! And why does my butt hurt?_

"Thank goodness you're finally awake." Naruto turned to see the source of the familiar female voice, and discovered that it belonged to Shizune- and she was every bit as naked as he was. "I was beginning to worry."

"Gh- um where are our clothes? It'd kinda be nice to have them back..."

"I can't exactly remember, but the note said we were stuck up here on the monument naked for twenty-four hours as punishment. It said something about me attempting to rape you and you putting the Hokage through a window with some technique called the Rasengan. That's all I can remember right now, Naruto." She sat down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and sharing her warmth in the early morning chill. "I can't remember, but if I did do anything to you, I hope you can forgive me..."

Naruto was beginning to relax now and wrapped an arm around Shizune. "Well, I can't remember everything either, but I'll still forgive you, Shizune." After remaining close in the face of the wind for several minutes, Naruto's stomach growled. "Say, they didn't leave any food for us, did they?"

"Behind us there's a satchel with a few food pills in it, but that's it." Naruto nodded and got up to take one. "Heh, it doesn't make sense; I have no idea what we'd need the energy from a food pill for." Then suddenly there was a moment when she looked over her shoulder at Naruto as he swallowed the food pill; he looked at her, and she looked at him; and he looked at her, and she looked at him... Naruto gulped, an uncomfortably comfortable feeling beginning to spread. Shizune blushed slightly and looked away, but then she said, "Naruto, if we're gonna be up here for a day you might as well look, so don't feel bad about that. Here..." Standing now, she turned to face the younger man: she took a deep breath and held back her shoulders, and shook her hair out of her eyes.

Naruto blinked and gulped again, the smooth skin of the medic-nin bathed in the early morning light. His eyes lingered on her chest, which even now was blindingly fresh, and unforgettable. The sight chipped loose a memory, which floated to the surface: sometime, his smooth and creaseless hands had been held to those curves, and then(though he'd never admit it) had remained there of his own will for a time. Travelling downwards, his gaze discovered that Shizune had kept herself... _fit_ during her travels with Tsunade and still now, despite all the paperwork she did. Her legs were lean as the rest of her was, though there was a thin scar the length of his pinky on the outside of her right thigh. Shizune cleared her throat and turned around slowly, and the back of the Hokage's assistant came into view, the lithe contours of her hips and but-tocks just as firm and tight as the pussy he hoped to thoroughly abuse-

_DANG IT, I'M THINKING LIKE ONE OF PERVY SAGE'S BOOKS!_ Naruto closed his eyes and reigned in his thoughts, and slowly exhaled. When he opened them, he saw Shizune looking at him without a trace of lust or embarrassment. This reminisced Naruto of the fact she was a medic-nin and one with combat experience to boot, and that she'd most likely seen it all. This worked greatly to relax him.

"I didn't cover myself up," Shizune pointed out. Reluctantly, Naruto turned his head and coughed, and let his hands fall to his sides. _Ah, eh ahem. So maybe I was being a bit misleading when I told him that. But... _Shizune shook her head to clear her thoughts, but a stray thought fell off the shelf. It was a memory of the previous night: she had been reading a very intimate and detailed description of the organ in sight, which she now recognized as being completely accurate. Beginning to blush as the rest of the scene from the story came back to her, Shizune firmly exhaled and walked over to the satchel and pulled out one of the food pills, slamming it into her mouth and chewing it fiercely. _Alright._ "Naruto, let's rest against each other-"

"What?"

"Not so loud, please- back to back, so we'll share our warmth until it heats up later in the day."

"Oh, of course. Yeah." Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck, before turning away and sitting down. Soon he felt Shizune against him, warm and smooth. _I'm glad she's such an adult, this would be way awkward otherwise._

_He's so warm..._ And now, Shizune too was thinking of their age difference. _Heh, maybe... just maybe, if he was about ten years older. Gah, but by then I'd be forty-one... well, just for my own imagination, let's say he's twenty-five, and asks me out on a romantic date... no, that doesn't quite work- it even mentioned in his file how he loves ramen- doesn't seem like his kind of thing, anyways. Ah, yes, a picnic up here on the monument... he puts a flower in my hair, and it's just us and the birds and the sky..._ She closed her eyes and smiled, and took a deep relaxing breath. _He feeds me my sandwich as my head is cradled in his hand, and I'm leaning back on his lap... and I lick my lips when I'm finished, and look up into his face. Hmm, what _would_ he look like in ten years? Oh that's right, the Fourth... _Shizune's thoughts turned towards Naruto's father, the Fourth Hokage. Though she had not explicitly been told, there was the matter of Naruto's birthday coinciding with the Fourth's death, him being a jinchuriki, and his growing resemblance to the man. Like the rest of the village, Shizune had adored Minato, even moreso because of her loneliness growing up. Sure, there was Maito Gai and Asuma, but she'd had trouble connecting with boys at that age and Minato was considered the most handsome man in Konoha. _Very, very handsome..._ Forgetting where it came from for a moment, Shizune closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth at her back. She lightly rubbed her inner thigh, then moved her hand up a little bit, imagining she was warm because Minato was at her back, arms around her as she rode him. _"Oh, Minato... yes, yes!" "Ah, Shizune! I feel like a Kage!"_ The random phrase resonated with her, for some reason. And then she remembered it as being from perhaps the most scarring thing she'd ever read, and who said piece of writing was about, and realized what she was doing. It stopped her for a moment- before she switched to a slightly quieter method. _When you're a single ninja at my age, well..._ Shizune continued the fantasy of Minato for a few minutes, stopping short and breathing a sigh of bliss. She opened her eyes, the sunshine a little too bright and the edges of her vision were a little blurry, like an childhood remembrance.

Naruto had been looking out over the rest of the monument, and realized they were on the Fourth's head. With Shizune at his back, he wondered, _What would my father have done? Did he ever like anyone besides mom? ...I- I know how I feel about Sakura, and how I'm starting to feel about Temari..._ Then, Naruto heard that certain manner of satisfied sigh tickling his hearing, and though it was very familiar to him he didn't connect it to Shizune. Instead it made him focus on Temari, and the moments that had drawn the sigh from her. _B'argh! I'll ask her..._ "Hey, Shizune, could I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Naruto. Ask away."

"So, uh- I have this friend. There's this one girl I know he really likes, but they're just friends; and then there's another girl he met, and I um, think they're... sleeping together. But the thing is I know he's a one girl kind of guy, but he's... saying their are two perfect girls for him. And, umm... we're really close, so I was wondering how I could help him."

_"I have this friend..." Heh..._ "Well, Naruto, I'd get them all together on a date, and see how your... friend is with both of them in the same room, and how the girls act around each other and him." _Wait just a damn minute, he "has a friend"?_ "Could you tell me a little more about the two girls? Maybe I could give you better advice then."

"Well, the one he's friends with he's known since he was a kid, I- uh, that is they were on the same team. She's really pretty, and a great ninja. Um, the ninja he's sleeping with isn't from Konoha, and she's pretty too. But, my friend is a little scared of dating her because her brother's really important in their village, besides being his friend."

"Naruto, I think..." _Wait, powerful brother... ah, it's all coming back to me now..._ Shizune thought with a groan.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine... but I just started to remember last night, and... oh, I'm surprised Lady Tsunade hasn't fired me..."

"It can't be that bad, you're a great ninja so it'd have to be super-awful for her to actually fire you."

"Thank you, and... it was. The note mentioned certain actions I made towards you, and I can remember them now..." Shizune moved around so she was sitting by Naruto's side, and looked into his eyes. "Naruto, I wouldn't force myself on anyone like I did, especially you. I don't know if you can remember it, but Naruto I just want to say I'm sorry."

Seeing tears in Shizune's onyx orbs, Naruto instinctively wrapped his arms around her in a hug, holding her close like an precious teddy bear. Shizune broke down and began crying in earnest, hugging Naruto tightly as her tears fell on his shoulders.

**THE ROOM**

Lisa Yadomaru was currently having what she would easily call her best birthday ever. The young woman had gotten breakfast in bed: large portions of her favorite food, chocolate coated bananas-on-a-stick, sprinkled with... nuts. Lisa, after breakfast, would usually spend time with a copy of a book her parents would burn if they found, in her closet as her imagination ran away with the characters of the _Icha Icha_ series. Now, Lisa aspired to be a ninja someday, having heard the author of her secret book(s) was a ninja. As such she would upon occasion spend minutes that seemed like hours gazing at the Hokage Monument through her binoculars, for motivation and inspiration. Though her parents talked of how great the Fourth had been, Lisa's favorite was the current, Tsunade. _She's got the power, the Will of Fire; the kitchen wasn't good enough for her! Oh, it's almost like she's a character from the Icha Icha series!_ Shifting the focus of the binoculars, Lisa's adoring gaze was now on the likening of the Fourth Hokage's head- hmm, what was that on his hair? Zooming in, Lisa gasped as she beheld two naked people holding each other...

_This can't be happening, am I dreaming?_ To make sure, Lisa reached down into her pyjamas and pinched herself. _Ah! So I am awake. Wait, could this be a genjutsu?_ Knowing the basics of ninjutsu, like tree climbing, it was only a matter of time before Lisa learned of genjutsu and how to dispel it. However, the fleeting disruption of her chakra did nothing to change the view. _Oho! Ooooohh! And the blond guy only looks a few years older than me! I deem this noteworthy- maybe I could finally make a decent Icha Icha plot with it...!_ Scrambling to get out her notepad and pencil from their desk drawer, Lisa set herself up to work near her bedroom window.

Meanwhile, in another room, Tsunade lowered her binoculars. "-So from a political standpoint, even if I did approve of it, this would be a... delicate issue if word got out."

Temari nodded her cognizance. "...But, it's hard for me to keep things from Gaara, even if I don't speak. I might not have, to eventually. And... well, oddly enough I find the possibility of being a mother interesting." Temari looked through the window towards the Hokage Monument. "Uh, they aren't doing anything up there, are they?"

Tsunade smirked, and shook her... head. "Shizune just cried in Naruto's arms; I don't think you have anything to worry about there." _I guess-_ "Temari, just so you know... most of what Shizune did was part of an order from me to indirectly get the information that, ironically, I just garnered from a simple conversation with you. So except for... that one thing, she was intentionally flirting with Naruto to provoke you into some kind of response."

"'Intentionally flirting' is still flirting in my eyes, Lady Tsunade; though it's a little more reassuring to know she wasn't acting out like that of her own will."

"Heh. So you like the boy, eh? Who knows, things might just turn out good. And one last thing: would you be willing to stay for a few tests? If I do say so myself, Konoha has the best medic-nin anywhere and also you'd be closer to Naruto, in case you two... want to make any decisions together."

Temari thinks it over, knowing this could change her life- and then said, "Yes." _If she knows about Naruto and me, I might as well ask..._ "Lady Tsunade, would it be possible to have microphones planted on the monument, so we could hear them?"

"Already done, but I don't have the ear pieces on hand right now. I'll have Sakura bring them by." Tsunade nods, and Temari turns to face the window again.

**THE BLANKET**

Naruto held Shizune, for a little while; longer than he thought was appropriate. But she had insisted, and so she was still within his arms. _This is... kinda awkward, but at the same, not. I never knew Shizune could be like this._

Shizune slowly stroked Naruto's... back, before squeezing him again. At first she had welcomed the embrace because it meant Naruto had really forgiven her, but then she had prolonged it after she realized just how long it had been since she had been held; certainly not since her return to Konoha and definitely for more than a few years before that. They both meant to pull back a little, to talk face to face; but Naruto underestimated the margin needed and their lips ever-so-lightly touched. Without warning the fleeting touch ignited their passion and Shizune's lips strove for Naruto's with a hunger and desire that had never before been realized, as she wrestled with him to pin the younger man on his back. Naruto was equally ardent in the struggle, now knowing just how attractive Shizune was. Lost in their loving lip-lock, Naruto suddenly found himself on his back, arms pinned out to the side. He opened his eyes and saw Shizune's face hovering over his, hesitation and longing etched upon it; and it began to dawn on them what they had just done. "Oh, Naruto- I'm-"

"No, that was both of us," He interrupted.

_Both of us..._ "Naruto... I'm not trying to rationalize what I just did but..." _At first it was because he resembled his father, but now..._ "...I'm a woman, and I have certain urges the same as everyone else. I won't ask you to satisfy them, but if you want to... I'll be ready."

_Well, I guess I "feel" ready... _There was an heart-pounding moment where Naruto intensely wanted to satisfy Shizune, and she felt him responding to her offer beneath her. She moaned, and unconsciously pressed herself to him there, Naruto on the verge of giving in and taking her. "Shizune, let's just think for a while..."

"Yes," Shizune said, licking her lips. "Alright." She moved off to the side and sat with her knees pulled up to her life-changingly magnificent bosom, facing towards Hiruzen Sarutobi and the previous Hokages. Naruto sat down back to back with her, looking at Tsunade's face carved into the mountainside and trying to relax- and then in a rush the memories of the previous night came back: the living face of Tsunade, and her softly smothering embrace; Shizune's flirtations and groping, a chaotic fight and a long fall, Shizune's lack of mesh armor under her kimono, an awkward word game, Shizune groping him, wine, Shizune straddling and stroking him as he groped her...

Behind him, Naruto felt Shizune settle into a different position, and mumble a familiar name. Realizing what she was doing after hearing an oddly tantalizing squilching sound, Naruto abandoned his attempts to restrain himself; even though Shizune was at his back and it wasn't something he made a habit of doing. He tried to keep his thoughts on Ayame, but they kept coming back to the woman behind him. As the pace of Shizune's breathing increased Naruto's imaginations were now... _firmly _on her... and then she loudly moaned his name...

**THE ROOM**

With a fresh pair of underwear, Lisa walked back into her room. She'd temporarily moved the desk to under her window, as crouching got to be a little... inconvenient. _I will never forget this day! Oh... besides THAT, this is a goldmine for my Icha Icha stories! A young man and an older woman drawn together in passion, though they can't quite realize their feelings for each other yet; ending with a passionate love-making session on top of the Hokage Monument! It's perfect! Even better, I'll reveal the blond boy is the long lost son of _him... Pausing to write down the thought, Lisa chewed the pencil's eraser for a moment. _And what's a good job for the woman? Ah! She'll be the Hokage's assistant in the story, yes._ A quick look with her binoculars confirmed they were still sitting back to back, but now were lost in thought. _Alright, time to move out._ In the mirror, one more time Lisa went over her outfit: her vaguely brown "stalking" vest, with the recording equipment; dark grey forearm warmers, the stolen tanto hidden in the left one; black workout pants and black, mid-length open-toed boots. _Hair braided and out of the way, okay. All set._ Opening her door and walking into the hall, Lisa shouted, "Mom, I'm going for a hike near the monument again! I'll be back after lunch!"

Jogging out of the house, Lisa quickly jumped up, and began hopping from roof to roof as she made her way to the scene. Her dark brown braid bounced behind her, the wind rushing through her bangs and loose strands of hair. Around chimneys, under and over clotheslines, until finally at last she came to the base of the mountain. She took the stairs until she got to the research building, and then jumped far out, hovering over the long fall back to Earth, before coming into contact with the mountain. The girl slid down a couple feet, but managed to use her practice with the Tree Climbing Technique in time to save herself. In fact, this this would be her greatest test of her skills with it yet, as there was a ways to go until the faces of the Hokages. Keeping a smooth and steady pace, after several gruelling minutes of climbing and use of the technique, Lisa made it to a tree whose trunk stuck out horizontally from the mountainside. Nearly exhausted, she was about to rest for a few minutes when she was tapped on her shoulder. Whipping the tanto out from her forearm warmer as she turned, Lisa was shocked to see her attack had been blocked by none other than an Black Ops member!

"Not bad, for a civilian." Said the cat-masked agent. "In fact, that was very, very good for a civilian- you aren't an Academy student, are you?"

"N-no sir," Lisa gulped. "Though, I do hope to enroll later this year."

The ANBU nodded. "I'll put in a good word for you if you do make it. Now," The masked ninja stared at the young brunette in front of him. "Explain why you're here."

"Uh um this is public property, right? Do I really have to? Yes? Okay..." Sighing, Lisa sheathed her tanto. "I was, _observing_ the Lord Fourth's head when I noticed two people on it. I began to get curious, and so I was about to set up recording equipment to- why are you laughing!"

Reaching up behind their mask, the ANBU produced a small device and held it out to Lisa. "Officially I never told you this, but a few of us were tapped to make sure those two people didn't escape before their sentence was up. We already have the area bugged." Taking the earpiece, Lisa stowed it in her vest. "Now remember, you aren't actually supposed to have this, so there will be _consequences _if it turns up in an odd place. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. I'll collect it after their sentence is over, Miss...?"

"Yadomaru. Lisa Yadomaru." With a nod, the ANBU disappeared back to wherever he had come from. _Ah! A real life adventure!_

**THE BLANKET**

Shizune could barely stand it, it was tearing her apart. She had to admit this had been a very apt punishment for her: just a few paces away was an attractive, _very _naked young man, who coincidentally she had attempted to rape whilst drunk the previous night. And despite the circumstances, they felt themselves inxectricably being drawn towards the other, being acutely aware of how the other felt after they had done the deed back to back. Presently Naruto was standing away from her at the corner of the blanket closest to Tsunade's face, arms folded and silent. Shizune was lounging in a purposefully seductive manner, absentmindedly fingering... the thin scar on her right thigh. _Say..._ Turning her head to lovingly run her eyes over Naruto, ocularly making love to him like the hopelessly infatuated virgin she was, Shizune asked, "Naruto, where are your scars?"

"Hmm?" He turned to face her, hands now covering himself up.

"All those battles you've fought; I would think you'd have at least a few scars."

"Well, it comes from being a jinchuriki: the Kyubi's chakra speeds up my healing process."

"Has it affected your recovery time in... _other _areas?"

"Sh-Shizune!"

"You're right, that was inappropriate. Sorry. What was I thinking?" Shizune gave a bitter chuckle. _Agh, sleeping on this rock-_ "Naruto, could you give me a back rub?"

_Well- but..._ Naruto sighed. "Okay, but you better not try anything funny." Shizune turned over onto her stomach, resting her head on her forearms.

Knowing he was being played like The Legendary Sucker herself, Naruto knelt down and began lightly running his hands over Shizune's back, increasing the pressure slowly until a few minutes later he was massaging the jonin. "Just like that... now lower, lower..." Shizune peeked back at Naruto, who had his eyes closed as he worked her over. "Lower- to my coccyx, Naruto." A moment later, Naruto's hands were at the desired area. _This'll have to do unless I can get that. _The gentle work was almost therapeutic for Naruto, but Shizune could sense his calm, radiating from his hands- which was a problem for her, as she had absolutely no intention of keeping Naruto calm. "Harder. No, _harder-_ there... mmn, now faster..." A pleasured exhalation came from Shizune's lips, and she slowly spread her legs apart-

"Uh, I think that's a pretty good back rub, wouldn't you say, Shizune?" Naruto said suddenly, leaning up and scratching the back of his head.

"...Yes, it was nice. Thank you, Naruto." Intentionally making poor word choices, Shizune continued, "I bet you need to relax, too. Want me to rub you?"

_RU- oh, wait... Now that she mentions it... I am kinda sore from the rock..._ "Yeah, okay." The blond sat facing away at her side, and Shizune maneuvered up into a sitting position behind him. Audibly inhaling as she leaned in close and rubbed his upper back and shoulders, Shizune slowly exhaled a warm, moist breath on Naruto's neck. He stiffened... which prompted Shizune to tell him to relax. "Uh, I- I need to stand up."

_You already are,_ Shizune almost said out loud, but still allowed him to rise up further. She too stood, so stirred up she feared a light breeze blowing over the monument might send her over the edge. "Do you want me to continue...?" Shizune whispered in his ear, lightly drawing her fingertips over his back.

Seeing the sun just barely having progressed to noon time, Naruto shuddered. _Almost another day like this... I can't, I'm sorry Temari but-_ Naruto turned around, and held himself out for Shizune. "I want it, Shizune... but are _you _really sure you want this?" Before Naruto knew what was going on, Shizune had him on his back and inside her.

"I'm going to do you so hard that whoever pulls me off of you will be named the next Hokage. I would conquer the Land of Stone to build an empire for the manpower that would build the machine I would use to clamp onto you. I would create an forbidden jutsu to ascend to the next plane of existence, so I could pound you like the fist of an angry god. Naruto, I want to fuck you. I want to fuck you _hard_."

**THE ROOM**

Her sandwich as forgotten as a formulaic filler episode, Lisa watched Shizune furiously going at Naruto through her binoculars. The jonin's cries reminisced her of an elephant, or perhaps something between that and a tiger in heat- and in any case they were so loud in her earpiece Lisa wondered if she would even need it to listen in. A quick check confirmed that no, she did not need the earpiece, and so it was dropped onto her desk without further thought. Looking down to complete Shizune's quote, Lisa scribbled the rest of the lines hurriedly and tossed the pencil away, her hand finding its way into her workout pants...

Meanwhile, in another room, the scene was having the opposite effect: Temari threw off her earpiece in disgust. Unfortunately, the wall had not been repaired since the events of the previous day, and she was able to still hear Shizune. Glancing below, Temari saw a handful of individuals coming out to point at the monument, and murmur vaguely. _"I'm not exactly the kind of guy who goes around and does this..." You may not be, Naruto... but that just makes it even worse._ Abruptly sitting down, Temari held her head in her hands and began to cry. "I- I thought I finally had someone, someone who wanted _me,_ and wasn't afraid of my brother..."

Tsunade sat down and put an arm around the younger woman. "He held out as long as he could- I know that doesn't mean much now, but just remember that. And, Temari, I'll take the blame for this one. In my mind I meant this to be more of a prank than a real punishment, and I should have known to better than to leave two naked people with hangovers alone like that. Furthermore, Shizune and I will have a _very_ serious talk about this. So chin up; things will be sorted out." Temari nodded, and leaned into Tsunade.

The dampness was sponged away. Now clean again, Lisa Yadomaru flicked off the light switch in her bathroom and actually bounced over to her desk, hair out of the braid it was previously in and jumping about with her. She skimmed her notes of the situation so far, the random elements of her Icha Icha plot scrawled in the margins and the quotes heavily underlined. Sighing in contentment, she put her earpiece back on and took up another pencil. _The blond boy is the mysterious ninja from the previous installments,_ Lisa noted. Nodding, she grasped the binoculars and raised them to her eyes so she could see what was causing the intriguing sounds she was hearing. _Oh! That position's definitely going in! I can almost read the sentence: "Her cries were like a monument to his prowess: her form faced the village, and her glory echoed over, above, and through each nook and cranny." Yes! Write that down... monument, prowess... nook... there we go._ Raising her ocular magnification viewers to the scene again, she found the pair had collapsed back upon the blanket. Then in a blink-or-you'll-miss-it moment, the ANBU unit closed in and wrapped them in towels, and whisked them away.

**THE APARTMENT**

Naruto was once again staring out the window, thinking over the tragedies and triumphs of the last year. He'd once been asked where his scars were, and he now had the answer: inside. The very same act that had made him a worldwide hero had left the deepest one. The corner of his mouth gave an melancholy tilt, as he looked at the picture of Team Seven that now seemed like it had been taken a lifetime ago. But all was not lost to the murky depths of misery: Naruto was now engaged to be married, his future wife almost eight months pregnant. And there she was, returning after checking the mail. "Naruto... you have a package from her."

"Ah! It's been two months since the last time she wrote!" His fiancee walking over, she pulled up a chair and sat at the table beside him, lovingly rubbing his shoulder as he opened the package. Unfolding the letter, he read, "'Naruto! I'm sorry this is late in arriving, but as I now know it becomes increasingly difficult to travel when you're nearing your third trimester. But I've completed my travel arrangements, and am delighted to tell you I should only be two or at most three weeks away from Konoha. I... I want the child to grow up in Konoha, near their father. I know you wrote last time that you're engaged to her and I'm not asking that you take me back, just that you'll visit sometimes.' Is she kidding? Of course I'll visit!" Naruto shook his head and continued. "'Lady Tsunade wrote me recently, of how you had been promoted to chunin finally. Chunin! I laughed at that, but we both know what she really thinks of you. It just made me smile to think a goofy guy like you could save the world, and that he only got promoted to chunin for it. Do you think the child will be a great ninja someday? I can almost see you with them, teaching them how to walk on water and climb trees. Hee hee. I've been thinking of names for the child lately, but it seems some part of me is set on naming it after you or her.'"

"I think one Naruto is all the world can handle," His fiancee teased.

Naruto scowled at her, but read on. "'And the name Naruto reminded me of a book you mentioned the late Jiraiya wrote, and that in turn reminded me of the... _other_ books he wrote- you know the series. Out of curiosity I picked one up after I saw it at a bookstore on the bestsellers shelf- a new entry in the series. And, well... words cannot describe what's between those two covers, so I decided to send you the book. I think you'll want to read it. Love, Shizune.'"

"That's it, here." Temari picked up the volume, seeing the Hokage Monument on the front cover. _Odd... Let's take a quick peek at what's inside..._ Flipping the book open to a random page near the end, her eyes settled on a sentence: _"Her cries were like a monument to his prowess: her form faced the village, and her glory echoed over, above, and through each nook and cranny." Wait, her name... _Temari glanced up a paragraph to see if it appeared. _Oh! OH MY-_ Struggling to keep a straight face, Temari handed the book to Naruto.

"What? I saw you trying not to laugh, you know." Then Naruto snatched the book from Temari and opened it to a random page. The scream was heard seven blocks away...

**THE END**


End file.
